Oreskovich had a great week for the Rochester Americans last week, picking up a goal and two assists while finishing a plus-three in three contests last week.

The free agent signee registered points in all three games. He picked up an assist against Albany on Friday and Syracuse on Saturday before picking up his goal Sunday against Grand Rapids.

Oreskovich has split the season with Rochester and Florida in his first season of hockey in over two years. He has 12 points in 28 games with Rochester tand has collected six points in 43 games with Florida.

THE NEXT SEVEN DAYSFriday March 19th at Binghamton (7:05pm) Saturday March 20th at Wilkes-Barre (7:05pm)

WEEKLY NOTES: With the countdown to the 2010 Calder Cup Playoffs currently underway, the quest for a berth in the postseason continues to take shape as just four weeks remain in the regular season. Two teams have now clinched a spot in the playoffs; the North Division-leading Hamilton Bulldogs becoming just the second team along with the defending league champs, the Hershey Bears, to be guaranteed postseason play. The Rochester Americans, who are 7-3-0-0 in their last 10 games with the mindset of playing well into the spring, enter the week in a second-place tie in the American Hockey League’s North Division with the Abbotsford Heat. Coming off a weekend after earning just two out of a possible six points, the Amerks now hit the road for three straight with a fairly light weekend ahead against East Division foes. This week, the Amerks head to Binghamton for an interstate clash with the Senators before closing out their season series with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

ROAD WARRIORS: After taking a 3-0-0-0 sweep last weekend on the road, and coming off its 5-3 win over the Syracuse Crunch Saturday night at the War Memorial at Oncenter, Rochester has now won a season-high four straight on the road, the longest streak since winning three from January 15th to January 30th ( at Hamilton, Syracuse and Toronto). Prior to winning four straight on the road, the Amerks were just 4-7-0-0 in their last 11 contests away from the friendly confines of The Blue Cross Arena.

AMERKS NOTES: Rochester (38-28-2-0, 78 points) enters the week in a second-place tie in the North Division with the Abbotsford Heat after coming up short in a 3-2 loss to the Grand Rapids Griffins last night at The Blue Cross Arena. Despite the loss, the Amerks have won five of their last seven with just 12 games to go in the regular season.

Seventh-year pro Jamie Johnson, who shows 11 points (4+7) in his last 16 games, has a team-high 39 assists and 62 points, while his 23 goals are equal to that of forward Jeff Taffe for the team lead. Averaging under a point per game, Johnson is tied for eighth in the AHL in overall point production and is tied for 10th with 39 assists. Further, the duo is tied for 15th among the AHL’s top goal scorers. Taffe shows 12 points (6+6) in his last 12 games and notched his 300th AHL point with his game-winning goal on March 7th against Portland.

Veteran defenseman Clay Wilson enters the week in the midst of a four-game point streak (1+3) and has nine points (2+7) in as many games. He has a team-best 21 assists on the power-play this season, good enough for fourth in the AHL in that category. Wilson continues to be Rochester’s top scoring defenseman with 50 points (12+38) and is second in scoring among league blueliners. Additionally, Wilson is 13th in the AHL with 38 assists.

Rookie goaltender Alexander Salak, who has started six of the last nine games for Rochester and is coming off a five-game winning streak, boasts a 28-13-0 record with a 2.74 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage in 43 games. His 28 wins presently rank second among league netminders, while his save percentage is 19th. His counterpart, third-year goaltender Tyler Plante, made three straight starts for the first time this season from March 6th to March 12th, a stretch that included back-to-back wins and a 40-save shutout on March 7th against Toronto. Plante is 7-9-0 with a 2.91 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage in 18 games of service.

Veteran forward Mike York, coming off a season-long five-game point streak, has collected 14 points (5+9) in 12 games since returning to the lineup on February 19th. He sits five points away from 100 AHL points. Amerks captain Rory Fitzpatrick is three points from 200 as a pro, while 2010 AHL All-Star forward Graham Mink is just two goals shy from 200 pro goals.

THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS Friday March 19th vs South Carolina (7:30pm) Saturday March 20th vs South Carolina (7:30pm)

WEEKLY NOTES: The Florida Everblades beat the South Carolina Stingrays 2-1 on Sunday to improve their overall record to 6-4-1 versus the ECHL defending Kelly Cup Champs this season. The Everblades also won 2-1 in overtime on Saturday night, while dropping a decision on Friday night in North Charleston Coliseum 3-1. Of the 11 meetings this season, eight contests have been decided by one goal.

The two clubs finish off the 13-game regular-season series this weekend in Germain Arena on Friday and Saturday night. Ex-ECHL and NHL great goaltender Olaf Kolzig will be in attendance to be inducted into the ECHL Hall of Fame and ECHL Commissioner Brian McKenna will be in attendance in Germain Arena on Friday night, March 19 as well. Saturday the ‘Blades and Stingrays battle for the final time in the regular season. Florida and South Carolina to face off at 7:30 p.m.

STATISTICS

Information from the amerks.com and floridaeverblades.com used to create this report.